President Obama has been turning down the advice of some of his closest advisers – his vice president, both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and his top military commanders – on how to deal with Syria. The National Security Council recommended the United States give non-lethal assistance to the Syrian rebels last month, but Obama did not approve the recommendation, according to Josh Rogin, with Foreign Policy Magazine. Rogin broke the story on The Lead and on his blog, The Cable. Read his full story here.

“In February, just before John Kerry went to meet the friends of Syria and the Syrian opposition, all of the members of the National Security Council, all of the departments that work on Syria, came together and recommended to Obama that he should give the rebels night vision goggles, body armor, things that can’t kill people but could help them fight the Assad regime,” said Rogin. “The White House didn’t reject the recommendation, but they didn’t accept it either,” says Rogin.

“This is seen by experts, lawmakers, and people in the Syrian opposition, as a rejection, a defacto rejection for sure,” added Rogin.